CaptDom

I am of the mindset that the few forays made each week by the recreational pin hookers are vastly better than the commercial operations sweeping up in one pass what we catch all winter. In that vein, lets go catch some cod!!!

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CAPT. DOM PETRARCA
COASTAL CHARTERS SPORTFISHING
NEWPORT, RI (401)-862-0358
www.coastalcharterssportfishing.com

mcleaves

Great post Capt. Dom. While I hate to be affect by management decisions as much as the next guy, I wasn't participating in the Cod fishery when it boomed. I got into it when it was at the absolute bottom. So my entire experience has been one of year over year growth, with NO keeper cod in the first few seasons. I am happy to see the recovery taking place, but I would not call it a success by any stretch. It's just gotten better. The fish are typically small and they are thin. The fishery is still precarious IMO.

It's been a long slow recovery and I cringe when I see huge number of fish being hauled in by anyone, commercial, charters, OR rec's. I know I am going to have a lot of trips and catch a lot of fish over the season. I try to just take what I and my family will eat between trips with a little left for the freezer in the winter. I eat fish once a week at best. One trip can cover me for a month, and I fish more often than that. I don't think I have ever made my bag limit on the bank. I could, but I don't. I can't see the point of 4 rec guys hauling in 25 fish a piece (in the no bag limit areas).

M

Captain Curt

Very well said.
I could talk all night about this subject but its nice to hear someone with the same opinion.

These stocks are no where near what they need to be at to sustain the comm. boats at it all winter.

I won't go into a full rant but it should be 24" and 10 fish bag limit for everyone Rec and comm and then lets see how quick the fish stock rebound.I don't like the cod closure but I feel it is needed to rebuild the stocks.

And yes on friday I will be retuning all codfish that I catch under 24" back into the drink

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Capt.Curt Maxon
www.relentlesscharters.com

ARCTEKJim

WHOOOOOOOAAAAA. I JUST POSTED BOUT A SLAM ON THE VIKING....IS IT GOOD??? YES N NO... I SPENT COUNTLESS GALLONS PURSUING A FEW COD ON COXES... MORE ,THAN MY F 150 USES IN 2 YEARS. FOR A COD ..PERHAPS 3 OR 4.. SO I JUST HOPE THIS IS A LIL SIGN THAT SOMETHING IS GOING RIGHT. TALK ABOUT THE WAY FISHING WAS?? I CAN TALK BOUT IT ALL WEEK LONG.. OK..GROWING UP IN JERSEY AS A MATE ON THE SEAFOX..WHITING/LING TRIPS THAT WAS THE SIGN IN FRONT OF OUR SLIP.... GONE..FISHING ON THE LONG BRANCH PIER @ NIGHT BY MYSELF, FILLING A 120 QT COOLER. WITH WHITING/LING...TIMES HAVE CHANGED SINCE THE EARLY 80'S...BUT I HOPE THIS ALL RUNS IN CYCLES..WITH OVER 100 CANYON TRIPS TO MY CREDIT, I CAN SAY THINGS HAVE CHANGED IN A BIG WAY, WITH THAT SAID, I JUST HOPE THERE ARE MORE FISH OUT THERE THAN SCIENTISTS COUNT. I MAY NOT BE THE BEST WRITER, BUT, I HAVE CAUGHT A FEW FISH. JIM

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custom built t tops/towers/hardtops etc
www.arctekmarine.com CLINTON, CT

ARCTEKJim

BTW...I AM BY FAR A GOOD FISHERMAN...I TRY, NOTHING MORE......

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custom built t tops/towers/hardtops etc
www.arctekmarine.com CLINTON, CT

ads427

sounds good saturday, lets see if their still hitting....

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fishing machine

TEEZER38

HOW MANY OF THEM WERE YOU AWAKE FOR?

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DAVE BALDI
TEEZER - 38 TOPAZ

ads427

How many of those fish will actually get eaten? 40 or 50 guys, 800 Cod. I understand your paying big bucks and want to bring some meat home, but come on! With gas prices on the hike we want to make it worthwhile and we also need to sustain this fishery for the next generation. Even if you eat fish twice a week and freeze a bunch there is still a shelf life! For the avid fisherman you'll be out the following week to bring more home anyway. Let's look at the beauty side of things....

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fishing machine

Scup

Talk about greed! Commercially fishing out of my own 16 foot ride makes me wish I lived anywhere near where the Viking ports. Think about it. For $100 bucks they can put me over fish. Add another $100 for some pool money, gas for my truck, ice, and a big tip for the mates to lug the fish I caught off the boat to my truck and I am in business. With the wholesalers paying around $3 per pound, I figure there should be no problem for me to land at least 200 pounds. Let's see, 200 times $3 equals $600, minus $200 leaves $400 profit and I will guarantee you that the wholesalers will sell every fish I bring in, nothing will be wasted. Imagine getting paid $400 to do something I would love to do and unlike you recreational guys I would not have anything rotting away in my freezer! I hope you people see just how absurd our fish regulatory management boards really are. Captain Dom is right, it does not matter much to the cod who catches them, or what happens after they are in the cooler, they are just as dead either way. With few exceptions, give any fisherman (commercial or recreational) a chance to pound a species into submission and greed will kick in. It is only the regulations that stand between a species surviving or disappearing. What I see here is a failed regulatory management system. There is no real fault to be placed on any fisherman.
Commercial guys will always try to catch their legal limit since it means $$$ in their pockets. Heaven help the species if there are no limits. Recreational anglers will almost always try to catch their legal limit as well. Just look at the current Fluke situation and all the moans we hear about the strict limits now in effect. What is a charter boat captain suppose to say to his fares when he feels they have caught more than enough fish for the day. I really believe a captain would not want to pound his livelihood into submission but there is nothing he can do. If he should say "ok everyone, we caught enough fish so lets head for the barn;" he would be out of business before he reached port. Once again, the people that have been given a position of trust to protect our ground fish, appears to have screwed up big time. I just do not understand how they can be so inept. I know they are not stupid, and I do not even think there is an undercurrent of money flow here either. It just seems that any government agency after it has existed for more than a couple of decades becomes self-serving and they forget what they should be about.